Wakeman Wakeup
by CrypticMoonFang
Summary: Not long after her last visit with Vega, Jenny wakes up battered and beaten in a Cluster Prime hospital. With her memory a blank slate, she seeks the truth now more than ever...but why the uneasy feeling around every turn? Perhaps everything is not as it seems, even with the cluster's new ruler.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I opened my eyes to a very bright light, more than enough to overload my light sensors.

"Jenny?" a familiar voice called to me.

I felt electrical power surging through me, trying to charge me back up, but it was agonizingly slow. I was a superhero. I was a robot that took days of nonstop activity to begin powering down. I wasn't used to feeling this way.

"Jenny?" the voice said again.

I slowly came to realize that I was in a hospital, and probably hooked up to a generator or charger of sorts. I heard what sounded like squeaky wheels scooting along beside me and by the grace of a higher power, managed to look over. Undoubtedly a robot nurse. The light turned off and a cap on her finger popped shut.

"Jenny?" a voice on the other side of me repeated for the third time.

Yes, somehow I was keeping track of how many times my name was being called, yet I couldn't place my finger on who it was, nor did I have enough energy—or willpower—to find out.

"She still seems to be a little out of it. Can't really blame her; the poor dear took so much damage."

That second voice had to be the nurse, and she was right in that I was in my own world right now, barely in touch with reality. But damage...? From what, exactly? What happened to me and how did I wind up in a hospital? Where was I?

"Will she be okay?"

"This little fighter? She's defended an entire planet, I'm pretty sure she'll be fine after a few days. For now I would just let her rest and take her time to recuperate."

Recuperate from what? Why weren't they telling me what was going on? I was all ears...if they were just willing to talk to me... No... I was wiped out...needed rest just like the nurse said... I would find out eventually but for now I couldn't even stay awake to process much else...

"Rest up then, Jenny." That familiar voice held my hand. "You have a lot of explaining to do tomorrow."

**A/N**

**First off, this is my first MLaaTR story so try to go easy on me. Secondly, I'm fully aware I've been off for...I don't even know how long. Thirdly, I do plan to update The Boy With the Rings and A Rose Without Petals within the next few weeks BUT I'm not completely sure I can do it. I regret to say that I actually have a life outside fanfiction now. :'( I'm still obsessed as ever with writing but new priorities must take place.**

***Anyone who expects an update for The Boy With the Rings, and ESPECIALLY if you've been demanding one from me, take a moment to think about how hard it is to write out a mute character (which also happens to be your MAIN character and since the story's in third person you can't suddenly change their POVs) who can't use hand signs/gestures, and doesn't even know English but has no choice but to live with two "English-speakers". So before you judge me just put yourself in that position.**

**Now as for this story, I do prologues quite often. Other chapters will usually be longer, around 2k+ words. I know not a whole lot of people will be reading this but for those that do spare their time (and always a special thanks to reviewers for giving me insight as to what they see/want/feel/etc.) I would like to make my first MLaaTR story worth something to them (which also means you if you're reading this now).**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I heard the soft buzz of the electricity charging me back up. I didn't know how long I'd been out but I was feeling much better and much more energetic than before. Now it was time to find out what happened to me. Now I could _focus_ on finding out what happened to me.

I vaguely remembered that bright light that hit me. Someone saying I took damage. Was that ever the truth... Something in me still felt weird and out of place, like it had either been added or removed. My own body and I couldn't tell what in the world this odd feeling was.

I opened my eyes for the first time in what I assumed to be quite some while. Resting was only necessary to recharge, but from what I'd heard—or what I thought I'd heard—my charge had been low and my batteries possibly just as damaged as the rest of me. But why?

I sat up and looked around a very empty hospital room. Not another robot was in here, at least at the moment. I was the only one... Had there been a fight? And if so, why were there absolutely no casualties? Something able to hurt me to this extent...yet there was nobody else here with me... This wasn't right. If there was in fact a battle here—or anywhere for that matter—then there were bound to be other robots.

Unless...

"How long was I out...?" I mumbled to myself, noticing the wires attached to me and yanking them off.

My charge remained stable. The generator was no longer needed and as for the rest of my body, it seemed good enough to move again. I could already sit up couldn't I?

I swung my legs over the bed and tried to stand up only to get a very dizzy, disoriented feeling. I literally had no choice but to sit back down and wait for my head to clear. Even after being fully charged and fixed up, I was still a bit dazed. I had a creeping feeling that whatever had happened to me, it had nearly claimed my life. For something like this to happen, I...I had to be just inches away from death.

It was almost too much to take in.

I held my head and sighed. Maybe it would all come back to me in time but for now, I had to get my bearings on where exactly I was and how long I'd been practically comatose.

A single female robot walked through hospital doors at the end of the giant room and cautiously walked up to me, studying my every movement—or lack thereof. She seemed...to fear me. But why? What had I done?

In efforts to make a friendly first impression, I turned over to her and smiled brightly.

"How are you feeling?" she carefully asked, almost as though she was afraid to say the wrong thing.

"A little dazed but otherwise fine," I replied. "Are you a doctor or nurse here?"

Her expression and appearance seemed so...familiar... It was strange. I didn't know this girl; I'd never met her...and yet here she was standing in front of me and I felt like I somehow _knew_ her.

Just as she was studying me, I began to study her. She had otherwise dull, orange-ish colorations, incredibly skinny arms and fingers, looked to be around my age, and had two antennae sticking straight up from a wide head. She reminded me of a bug for some reason. Maybe it was the antennae. And maybe since she reminded me of a bug—something I knew—it felt to me as though I knew her. Yeah. That made sense. Right now it was the only thing that made sense... I chose to agree with that logic despite it going out on a limb.

"No," she finally said. "I'm not."

Her voice had a very slight echo to it and sounded much more robotic than my own.

"Okay. Well then, hi."

I reached out to shake her hand and once more she seemed much more wary than anyone should be. It made me uncomfortable and gave me the feeling that she didn't want to be in my general vicinity, let alone in the same room with me. But she did take it after a moment of deciding whether to run and scream bloody murder or return a simple gesture. I thought it was time to diffuse some of this thick atmosphere and hurried to get formalities out of the way.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is..." I stopped, my own words choking my introduction.

I couldn't tell her my name. I didn't know my name. I didn't even know who I was or where I came from. Come to think of it, I wasn't really sure I knew anything about myself. This slapped me in the face. I knew _nothing_ about myself. Nothing! And now I was lost on what to do, where to go, who to trust...

Wait, why would I need to be distrustful of anyone? Clearly this girl, at very least, was being careful around me, so others might be as well. I couldn't say for sure... Maybe it was because I was in a new place, meeting new people.

Whatever I did to make this girl so cautious, I could begin anew now and right my wrong.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"I'm...uh...just another robot," I answered. To the best of my abilities I might add...

"Do you have a name?"

For the time being, no, I didn't. "To be honest, I don't really know."

"Then we'll just call you Jenny."

I thought for a moment, letting such a name sink in and very briefly wondered why she'd chosen that particular name—but I just as quickly dismissed that last thought because she had to choose _some_ name, didn't she?

"Jenny," I repeated. "Yeah...I like that."

"Then Jenny it is. I'm Vega," she said, this time with undertones of pure relief. "Nice to meet you."

"You wouldn't happen to know how I ended up at a hospital would you?"

Once more that suspicious look crept into her eyes. "No. Do you know?"

I shook my head. "I just woke up here. I don't remember anything before that."

The look of suspicion was immediately replaced with a look of joy, which she belatedly tried to hide.

"Maybe you hit your head or something. To tell you the truth, I was just testing to see if you remembered. I was afraid you might've lost your memory..."

"Is my real name Jenny?" I questioned. "And how do we know each other?"

She laughed softly and replied, "Yeah, your name's Jenny, and we're friends. You're on Cluster Prime right now."

"How did I get here?"

"You grew up here. This is your home. Don't you remember even the _tiniest_ bit of it?"

I did a quick scan of anything in my memory bank, but leaving aside anything said or done in this very moment, my memory bank was completely void. There wasn't even a trace left. Anything it once held was just...gone. I had nothing...

"I'm sorry, I don't," I admitted.

But as my friend, she would surely understand. I hoped anyway. She knew me but this was kind of my first time meeting her—I didn't know her personality. I no longer knew her at all. Maybe she wouldn't understand. Then again, I wasn't the kind of robot who would make insensitive friends...was I? I didn't even know _myself_ right now... I guess I had no choice but to depend entirely on her for answers. Maybe that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I could clear my name—because apparently I'd done something horrible enough to frighten even a friend—and be re-taught how to live here.

Still, the fact that I had done something in the first place bothered me. That I didn't even know what it was made the feeling worse. It was awful. There was no way I could've been bad... I just wasn't like that. Somehow I _knew_ I wasn't like that. I couldn't be innately evil or wicked...especially not enough to hurt a friend or possibly even the very place I grew up.

"It's okay, Jenny. Maybe it'll come back eventually. You should try to relax for now, okay? You had some really severe injuries when you got here."

And even though I just woke up, I needed more time to collect myself and accept that my memory was gone.

"How long was I out for?" I asked.

"About two months..."

"TWO _MONTHS?!_"

She held her hands up and took a few steps back. She did it so fast it almost looked like she was ready to run away from me. Almost...

"Jenny, _calm down_. We expected you to come to within a matter of days but you were too badly hurt. You took a lot longer to wake up than we thought."

"But two months?! How can I calm down when I have things to do?!" I shouted.

Though in all honesty I had no idea what "things" I had to do, or even if I had anything to do at all. What was my life like? Was it carefree? Full of responsibility? A little bit of both? And what about school life? Was I a geek? Popular? Trendy? Fashionable? A loser? A nerd? An obsessive fangirl? Was I a punk? Did I often play hooky? Did I make good grades? And other aspects of life... Did I have a boyfriend? Did I have any other friends? A job? Pets? Siblings? A favorite hangout spot?

"What 'things' do you have to do?" Vega asked suspiciously.

I opened my mouth to speak but hesitated. _I didn't know_. I just...well, everyone has _something_ they need to do, so why should I be any exception? If I was truly normal, like she seemed to be implying, and no different from any other robot, then I wasn't an exception and had something. I just didn't know what it was...I couldn't remember...

But the thought that I _did_ have something to do was bothering me. I didn't know why.

I swore I saw Vega flash the slightest of smiles...but maybe I was imagining it.

"It's okay," she assured me. "You don't really have much to do, unless you count school."

"School?"

"Cluster High. Surely you remember that much," she said.

I didn't need to scan my memory bank again to know that I didn't remember.

"Sorry. I don't remember anything at all about...well, anything at all. I have so many questions," I admitted.

For once, instead of backing away in fear, she sat on my bed and put an arm around my shoulders.

"Don't worry about it—"

"Don't worry about it?!" I repeated. "How can I not worry?! I don't even know who I am anymore! I didn't even know my own name!"

She jumped at my outburst, but didn't leave like I halfway expected her to. So she was empathetic, at very least to a certain extent. I knew I couldn't be the kind of robot to make bad friends...

"Maybe I should just go home," I sighed. "I'm feeling well enough now and I bet my family's worried about me."

I got up to leave the hospital—I hardly cared to wait around to be discharged and if they couldn't handle that then they could just give me a quick systems check and let me go afterward—but was immediately stopped by Vega. Instead of her previous friendly expression, she practically _radiated_ a combination of sorrow and panic.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I, um, have something to tell you." She took a deep breath. "The only family you really have is your mom...and, well...she...she isn't with us anymore."

I gasped.

"She died," Vega explained. "It was around the same time you got put in the hospital."

"What happened to her?"

She shook her head. "Nobody really knows. We think she got caught up in the same...accident, maybe?...that almost scrapped you. I'm sorry."

Actually, she had no need to be sorry. It was a bit of a shock to know that my mom had died—I didn't really want to know about my dad if such a fate had already befallen my mother—but being as every memory I ever had of her was gone, there was no longer a connection I could feel. It was like I never knew her. I felt no love or sorrow towards her departure. I wasn't necessarily numb to it, but it wasn't a very big deal to me. It would've agitated me a lot more had I retained any memory of her. But I didn't—and I thought of this as a good thing. It spared me the agony of losing a family member. But it also added a new list of questions regarding her.

"Don't be sorry," I said. "It would only be hard on me if I remembered her."

So...if I had no relatives, then where was I supposed to go now? What would become of me?

**A/N**

**As promised, 2k+ words. Reviews would be much appreciated.**

**Now normally I don't do this with stories (anyone who's read Flowers Will Bloom/Flowers Will Grow should know why lol), but since this is a fandom in which reviews are fairly scarce, I'll do review replies for this story. Eventually they will become mandatory (for me at least). Review replies are ALWAYS done in the order in which the person has reviewed, first to last. **

**Review replies:**

**_musa maka_\- Second chapter up! :)**

**_Hazel Blue Mystery_\- She was out for longer than they thought, so the "explaining" is out of the question now. Now we ponder why she has lost her memory to begin with!**

**_PlasticPencils_\- You're very much welcome. XP I didn't.**

**_lolsayzme_\- Oh yeah, I love all kinds of cartoons, but the ones I watched as a kid hold a special place in my heart. :D Awwww thank you!**

**_SalamiKing4321_\- Well that's for me to know and you to find out. ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As Vega explained to me that my house had also been destroyed beyond repair—which gave me slight insight into why I had been so critically damaged and why my mother had actually died. I was given an offer to stay with her until we could find me someplace else to stay, like a new house. Since, apparently, nothing was salvaged from my house—again due to my lack of memories, I couldn't quite bring myself to call anywhere my "home" yet—I couldn't exactly move to a new place. I needed things like a bed, a charger, and somewhere for me to store motor oil.

As Vega guided me to her house, we talked about some of the questions I had. It was a mere few, but I didn't want to shove everything on her at once and risk overwhelming her. I had to hold back nearly all of them and that took a great deal of effort.

It seemed as though—another downside was that because of how she acted earlier when we were still in the hospital, I didn't think it was such a good idea to ask her anything too important, so I was stuck being too casual for my own liking—I did have other friends and a hangout spot. I made fairly good grades, but I wasn't a perfect student. I didn't have a boyfriend and as far as she knew, I never really did have one.

I asked her what I was like before I lost my memory, which at this point was no different than asking her what I was like in a past life. She told me I was funny without meaning to be, which I supposed meant I had a natural gift for making people laugh. Overall I was fun to study with. I liked getting along and preferred to make friends rather than enemies. Fitting in was important to me and she didn't know why, probably some psychological thing from before I met her. Popularity in school wasn't a problem for me now but it had always been on my to-do list. I was very friendly.

"It was never possible," she said, "for you to hurt someone."

I knew I couldn't have been bad. What I did to frighten her was still a mystery but I wondered if it wasn't even me that did anything. What if, instead of me doing something bad, it was the accident—or so we both assumed for now—that scared her. She could've just been afraid of losing a friend and since my mother died, she also could've been afraid of what my reaction would be. Suddenly her fear made sense.

"I should probably tell you one more thing that might come as a little bit of a surprise," she told me as we approached a gargantuan, curvy building that reminded me so much of the inside of a beehive. Statues of what looked like cocoons with bug heads loomed over me, positioned in a V-formation. It was almost like they were welcoming me in a creepy way. Especially since they were gold with eyes of ruby...

"What is this place, some kind of museum?" I asked.

She led me up a long flight of stairs that went all the way up to a door at the front of the building.

"Well, I guess it sort of is if you choose to think of that way. This is a palace placed in the heart of Cluster Prime. A queen used to live here but she did some really bad things that the citizens wouldn't tolerate. She ended up being banished for her actions," Vega explained. "There are still some 'artifacts' left here."

"That isn't very surprising, although it is pretty cool to see a palace and hear about the story of the queen," I replied.

She waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, no, that's not the surprising part, that's just the backstory. The surprising part is that after the queen was banished, Cluster Prime needed a new ruler. Since the daughter of the queen played a big part in helping the robots overthrow her, the daughter was selected to be the new ruler. She lives here."

"Wow...so we're going to meet royalty unannounced?"

"Don't worry. The palace is huge, empty, and kind of lonely. She likes having guests."

Still, I wasn't too sure about entering this place. It would only take one word from the new queen to be surrounded by guards and thrown in prison...or worse.

"Why don't we just go to your place first and come back later?" I suggested.

But she wouldn't have it and laughed as she opened the door.

"I thought you would've figured it out from my story," she said. "I'm the new queen."

My mouth dropped open. First of all, how did I miss that; second of all, I was friends with the _queen of Cluster Prime?!_

"How do I know royalty?!"

"Actually, you met me before you knew," she answered. "I wasn't the queen at the time."

A butler—he looked like a forest green beetle with long antennae—grabbed the door to greet Vega, bowed, and stopped in his tracks when he saw me.

"Good evening, Queen Vega...and...Miss XJ-9..." It could've been me but he sounded like he had to force out those last words.

"Good evening to you too," I said.

Then I turned to Vega and whispered, "Who is XJ-9?"

"Come with me and I'll explain," she whispered back.

She walked past the butler and I followed her further into the palace, where she did in fact explain during our trip down an empty hall.

"Originally you were called XJ-9, but you were adamant about everyone calling you Jenny. I guess you could say you have two names, but we all call you Jenny," she said.

"What about the butler back there? He called me XJ-9."

"That's just because he's trying to be fancy. Nobody really calls me 'Queen' Vega, just Vega. He always wants to sound formal no matter how many times I tell him he doesn't have to."

I was tempted to ask her if anyone else called me XJ-9 but...I didn't. As many questions as I had, some of these answers—especially things like having two names and being homeless—were a lot to absorb. Besides, for reasons unknown, I just knew I'd been called XJ-9 constantly before I lost my memory. Maybe it was by one person, maybe by many. I didn't know. It was such a horrible feeling. It didn't help at all that knowing I'd lost my mother _permanently_ was sinking in. The hurt sank in with it... I didn't even remember her, which made it hurt that much worse. My poor mother, who had probably remembered me to the end... I couldn't fathom how she would feel if she were still alive, knowing I had no recollection of anything she'd ever done for me. No recollection of _her_.

I tried to keep a straight face for Vega's sake, since she was doing everything she could to help me, but there was a frown nonetheless and my eyebrows were probably positioned in a way that indicated extreme distress. It was the most I could do to choke down the huge lump in my throat.

I continued to follow her, hoping she wouldn't turn around to see me like this and feel like she wasn't trying hard enough...like her efforts were in vain... She led me straight to a door at the very end of the ridiculously long hallway and opened it for me, clapping twice. The lights flickered to life and for the first time, I saw the room.

It was huge and spacey with a regal bed that looked big enough to impress even the wealthiest of kings. The bed had lush red covers that appeared incredibly comfortable. The pure white pillows—all four of which the bed easily held—were plump, smooth, and no doubt soft as silk. Right next to the bed, about level with the pillows, was an outlet. I recognized it as a charging station of sorts.

On the other side of the bed was a small, cherry brown nightstand with one drawer and a classic lamp on top.

On the other side of the room, directly across from the bed, was a huge dresser with a mirror on top, against the wall.

And on one of the walls perpendicular to the bed were two of the biggest doors I'd ever seen—and on the walk through the city, I'd seen a lot of doors. I knew it had to be the closet, and if the doors were this big, I couldn't even begin to imagine how big the closet itself was.

And on the last wall, the other one perpendicular to the bed, a window took up almost the entire wall. White curtains hung daintily on either side of the window.

And the ceiling of this room... It was so high I wouldn't be able to touch it even if I tried.

So this was what Vega meant by "lonely".

"Well?" Vega said. "What do you think?"

"I... It's like you're trying to fit another building in here..." I replied.

She laughed. "This _is_ a palace."

"Yeah—"

"This is where you'll be staying. It's my best guest room."

"_Guest_ room? More like ballroom. Just look at the size of it!"

"I told you it was lonely here," she sighed, but quickly perked up afterward. "But now we'll both have company. I think you should turn in early. You've had a pretty rough day and after everything that's happened, I mean, that's got to be really hard on you. It's a lot to deal with."

She gestured to the bed and smiled empathetically.

I nodded in agreement and complied, making my way across this gargantuan room to snuggle up under the covers. I didn't need to charge back up, but I wanted some time alone to sort out my thoughts and fully comprehend everything she'd told me today. In my attempts not to overwhelm her, I allowed myself to be overwhelmed. I didn't realize that until now. So my solution was to let her think I was exhausted—which was true, but not in the physical way—and leave me to my thoughts.

"Just clap two times to turn off the lights," she said as she left, closing the door on her way out.

Once I heard her footsteps fade to nothing, I clapped twice. The room darkened immediately, just as she said it would.

I turned over and closed my eyes, ready to welcome sleep when and if it came. I was a robot so of course I could simply "power off", but something was preventing me from doing that. I couldn't figure out what it was. I couldn't turn myself off and that was unnatural for any robot. Maybe it had to do with me not being connected to a charger?

My bellybolt moved aside as a plug popped out. I took it, pulled it out, and plugged it into the outlet. The electricity instantly started flowing through my cord and into me. My batteries weren't as full as I thought, but they were still good enough.

I rolled back over and tried to focus on how soft these pillows were... They were just as soft as they looked, possibly softer. And the covers were even more comfortable than I expected them to be. This bed was amazing...

But despite its skyrocket quality, I didn't really want to be in such a bed. It wasn't that I was ungrateful, because I very much was, but this didn't seem right to me. The bed at my old house must've been smaller and more compact. That would make sense. And my room was definitely smaller because I highly doubted that I also lived in a palace. Maybe that was why this room felt...wrong.

I sighed and decided that instead of focusing on the negative, I would count my blessings and make the most of what I was given. After all, I had more than enough negative to begin with. Last thing I needed was to find more.

Even though I decided I would focus on the positive, it still took several hours for me to be able to sleep.

**A/N**

**Yay, 'nother chapter! :D Although it...wasn't necessarily a quick update... Ummm anyhoo...I sort of also started up a new story for Star Vs. The Forces of Evil called Nova so I will spend time working on that. People are also requesting updates to A Rose Without Petals so I best be getting on that. Another update for this won't come for a while.**

**Review replies:**

**_musa maka_\- Haha yup, sorry, can't tell. ;P **

**_Flipflops12087_\- Oohhh... Errrrr...yeah...ARWP is not an easy story to write. Everyone seems to think it is but you know, it's really not... **

**_Prattle of the Sun_\- Awww thanks. -^.^-**

**_CornerstoneKey_\- Oh, wow... That was quite an interesting review. Very thorough. I do have plans for the story though, don't worry, and one of those plans is to keep it as captivating as I can. :P Or at least to my capabilities...**

**_TripleAAA1183_\- I am alive indeed! I'm just being kept very busy with life. ...So much life... lol ARWP may as well be on hiatus but I am slowly working on it (emphasis on slowly). No, it's fine, review whenever! :) **

**_cristofer25_\- I really don't know how it's mysterious (you're the second person to say that) but I'm glad it is. :)**

**_Strange Kidd_\- Yay I have rights! :D**


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